HBO Max with ads is better than I thought it would be

HBO Max with ads is better than I idea it would exist

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

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A week agone, I wrote on this very blog that I thought HBO Max's ad-supported tier didn't make sense. Having used it? Well, I'm non ready to modify my business relationship to advertisement-supported, but I am ready to acknowledge I was wrong.

HBO Max's $9.99 per calendar month advertising-supported tier, which costs $v less than its $14.99 ad-free tier, came out on Midweek, June 2. And so I made a make new account at that cost, but to see what if WarnerMedia actually delivered on its promise of an splendid ad-supported experience.

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For context, HBO Max — the service that adds a lot to the Abode Box Office we know already — is trying to compete in a earth where ad-supported content has go in vogue once again. Yes, Netflix and Disney Plus are advert-free, simply the likes of Hulu and Peacock and Paramount Plus all take ad-supported paid rates.

Right now, each advertising-free tier saves you the same corporeality of money: $five per calendar month. Paramount Plus only saved you $iv at ane indicate, but information technology'due south moving to the same $4.99 vs $ix.99 per month structure on June seven.

While Hulu gives you the same content whether or not you buy ads, information technology's the just service like that. If you motion from advertizement-complimentary to ad-supported, Paramount Plus cuts out live CBS stations, Peacock profoundly reduces the number of movies and TV show episodes available to you and HBO Max stops you from seeing the large Warner Pictures movies that stream on the same day equally in theaters.

HBO Max also (smartly) decided information technology would not put ads on HBO-branded content. So while I worried that The Sopranos would have ad-breaks inserted where they weren't meant to be, WarnerMedia decided that wouldn't be the example. Tenet, a movie currently airing on HBO, too has no ads (which should satisfy HBO Max critic Christopher Nolan).

HBO Max vs Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus: Pricing

Service	Monthly ad-supported price	Monthly advert-free price	Bonus for ad-free tier
HBO Max	$9.99	$fourteen.99	New Warner Pictures movies
Hulu	$5.99	$11.99	N/A
Peacock (gratuitous pick available)	$4.99	$9.99	N/A (gratis tier has less content)
Paramount Plus	$4.99 (starting June vii)	$9.99	Live CBS stations

What are HBO Max'south ads like?

Early on on, I was pretty impressed by how minimalist HBO Max'due south ads were. Watching Aquaman, I was greeted by subtle, united nations-disruptive Volkswagen ads that lasted perchance 8 seconds at most. Mid-movie ads were a petty longer, with one break comprised of a 30-second clip for Aflac and a 15-2nd Dairy Queen spot. I likewise found 45-2d long ad-breaks in other films, including Twister and Rush Hour.

Notably, if I'd watched an ad recently, and skimmed to another part of the film where an advertising-break was supposed to be (y'all can see the little gaps in the timeline), HBO Max didn't evidence another ad. This is probably their smartest play — not penalizing people who are trying to leap to a certain moment.

I saw longer ads during Idiot box shows, where well-nigh 30 seconds (max) of clips preceded episodes of Rick and Morty (over again), with minute-long advertising-breaks — for wellness insurance and Airbnb — mid show. The adjacent ad break was shorter, at only 30 seconds total, promoting a automobile rental service so Pizza Hut.

Starting a South Park episode I got some other 15-second clip for The Hut, followed by a 30 second clip for a medical service called Lilly. The break ended with a fifteen-2d AT&T ad.

The overall bulletin is clear. HBO knows that ads brand more than sense for TV shows, and less in movies. Minute-long ad breaks may exist annoying, but I would learn they were actually on the better side of things.

HBO Max with ads vs Hulu with ads

The HBO Max feel plays in stark contrast to the opening ads of Deplorable For Bothering You on Hulu, where a three-2d Taco Bell pre-advertising (announcing they were the advertiser) was followed past a 30-2nd Taco Bong advertizement filled with loud, advised men and women of yesteryear, in caked on makeup and large wigs.

When I tried to offset Vice, I was greeted with over 40 seconds of ads, promoting the new Dreamworks picture Spirit Untamed and and so a local politician (who I already get enough snail mail ads from).

Hulu has ads — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Booting up an episode of It'southward Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I was annoyed to go a minute and five seconds of pre-roll promotion. The clips highlighted M.O.D.O.K. and Run The World, and while neither evidence seems bad, a minute of ads earlier the show were annoying to see. And and so correct after Sunny'southward opening credits (which are pretty close to the kickoff of the bear witness) I got a minute-plus of commercials, promoting voting in the upcoming local election, Progressive car insurance and the Caviar food delivery service.

Of form, Hulu's habits still seem sparse compared to the minutes of commercials between shows and during breaks. But HBO Max's feel beats them cleanly.

HBO Max with ads vs Paramount Plus with ads

Next, I checked out Paramount Plus, where (oddly) ads didn't play during movies. Just when I began an episode of MTV's The Challenge, information technology started off with a xxx-second ad for Bounty newspaper towels. Aught terrible heed you, and still better than Hulu for running not running ads on both sides of the opening credits.

That said, I got bellyaching with Paramount Plus at the start ad-break. That same 30-second Bounty ad played once more, and it wasn't solitary. Another 30 second ad for Kia cars aired, followed by some other 30-2d clip for Popeye'due south Chicken, and another thirty-second prune for Geico.

Paramount Plus has ads too — (Image credit: Paramount Plus)

At the next advertisement-suspension, I got almost two minutes of ads promoting Canva, Sunglasses Hut, Guinness, Hotels.com, Peloton and the Mark Wahlberg movie Space. The but upside of this was that the Peloton clip had my favorite Gorillaz vocal (D.A.R.Eastward.). Only I dare Paramount Plus to have shorter advertizing-breaks.

This was probably the worst of the bunch.

A peculiar Peacock problem

When I went to Peacock, and institute that — just similar HBO Max — it too has ad-free feature films. And the ameliorate news, friends, is that Fast 5 (one of the best activeness movies of its generation) is 1 of those advertisement-free movies. Same for The Matrix. Each motion picture had a small annotation at the front that information technology was running ad-complimentary, and I got a piddling excited each time.

But as I poked around, I constitute that other programming that was seemingly supposed to have ads was ad-free. Certain, I used to take it prepare to ad-free, but I oasis't paid that extra $5 since Apr. Seems like a (lucky) bug for now, I doubt information technology will proceed.

Outlook: HBO Max with ads' price isn't that bad

Overall, my experiment has shown me that HBO Max's amount of ads is definitely better than Hulu and Paramount Plus'. I wonder where Peacock volition land, once this weird bug I'm experiencing is over. And so that's a win for Warner on ads.

Only the bigger question — posed to me by multiple coworkers — is simply "Yous're paying how much to watch ads?" To which I replied "cablevision TV's ever been like this." As The Mandalorian (whose evidence has cypher ads) would put information technology, "this is the style."

HBO Max review — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

But looking at all these advert-supported services, and seeing how the discount for watching ads is the same, the $9.99 cost isn't equally glaring. HBO Max's base charge per unit of $14.99 explains why y'all're paying then much more for an ad-supported experience. And I was already paying that much for HBO Max, so I already believe in its quality, and I'm non as irked by the idea of the $9.99 price.

I might even consider ad-supported HBO Max for myself. But not until 2022, when HBO Max won't get the big Warner Pictures movies at the aforementioned day as theaters.

While you're hither cheque out how to watch Euphoria season 2 episode 4 online.

Be sure to cheque out my guides to the best streaming devices (and best streaming services ) for more than recommendations. Electronic mail me at henry.casey@futurenet.com or leave a comment below with anything you'd like to see me cover in the streaming world — I might but address information technology in a future installment.

Read side by side: HBO Max lands on LG TVs more than than a year afterwards launch

Henry is a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past six-plus years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He'due south besides covered the wild globe of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.